Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cable telephone service. More particularly, the invention concerns the provisioning of cable telephone service to new telephone service subscribers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Coaxial cable communication systems have historically been implemented separately from telephone networks. Cable subscribers desiring telephone service thus had to obtain such service from a telephone service provider. The provisioning and installation of each type of service has been completely independent of the other and, like the physical networks themselves, there has been no common point where this activity has come together.
More recently, cable service providers have begun offering telephone service delivered via the subscriber premises cable drop, i.e., the cable communication system and the telephone network have become partially integrated. When telephone service is provided in this way, a number of manual steps must be taken to provision a subscriber for service. These steps typically include the subscriber making separate telephone calls to telephone and cable service providers to request service, a possible cable service provider truck roll to the subscriber premises to install the customer premises telephone equipment, a possible cable service provider truck roll to a cable head end location to provision the head end, and a series of coordinating communications between an Order Management Center (OMC) owned by the cable service provider and an OMC owned by the telephone service provider.
In the fierce competition between providers of high-speed multimedia services offering both voice and data communication support, those that can offer quality service with a high degree of convenience will have a decided advantage. With their ubiquitous high-speed coaxial cable networks, cable companies seem well positioned to meet this challenge. However, wide spread acceptance of multimedia cable services will require the ability to offer low cost telephone service without complicated or lengthy service setup procedures. What is required is an improved cable telephone service provisioning system and method wherein functions previously performed by cable network and telephone network service personnel are automated, and cable telephone service provisioning is rapid and easy to implement from the customer perspective.
The foregoing problems are solved and an advance in the art is obtained by a novel system and method for provisioning cable telephone service in a cable communication system that integrates at least partially with a telephone network. The cable communication system includes a head end Remote Digital Terminal (RDT) respectively communicating with a broadband network, a telephone switch and a customer premises Integrated Service Unit (ISU). The cable communication system also includes an OMC associated with the RDT, the switch, or both. To implement telephone service to customer premises equipment adapted for communication with the ISU, the RDT is notified of a new service request by way of a service request message sent from the ISU to the RDT. The switch is notified of the new service request by way of information sent from the OMC to the switch via an Element Management System (EMS) associated with the switch. Advantageously, the RDT and the switch are adapted to exchange information needed to coordinate the provisioning of telephone service on behalf to the customer premises equipment without manual provisioning steps having to be performed. In a first embodiment, which is useful when the OMC and the switch are not owned by the same service provider, the service option information sent to the switch is initially provided to the OMC via an in-service telephone. In a second embodiment, which is useful when the OMC and the switch are co-owned, the service option information is initially provided to the OMC via a temporary telephone connection established between the customer premises equipment and the OMC.
In the first preferred embodiment of the invention, a request for telephone service to the customer premises equipment is received at the OMC. The telephone service request includes service option information and an Electronic Serial Number (ESN) associated with the customer premises equipment. The service option information and the ESN are sent from the OMC to an EMS associated with the switch. The EMS sends the service option information, the ESN and a Directory Number (DN) to the switch, which stores this information in a switch database. The switch also determines a Call Reference Value (CRV) and associates it with the service option information, the ESN and the DN in the switch database. A request is then sent from the switch to the RDT to create an Analog Line Termination (ALT) object in an RDT database. The ESN is also sent from the switch to the RDT for storage in the RDT database in association with the ALT.
At the RDT, a New Request for Service (NRS) message is received from the ISU via a Network Interface Unit (NIU) located at the customer premises. The NRS contains the subscriber premises equipment ESN. A comparison is then made at the RDT between ESN received in the NRS message with the ESN stored in the RDT database. If the ESN""s match, the RDT sends a Change-In-Status (CIS) message to the switch requesting that the CRV be set to In-Service (IS) status.
In the second preferred embodiment of the invention, the RDT receives an NRS message sent from the ISU via the NIU located at the customer premises. The NRS contains the customer premises equipment ESN. The ESN is associated with a CRV at the RDT. The RDT then sends a message to the switch advising of the ESN and the CRV. The switch assigns restricted telephone service to the CRV using a selected Line Class Code (LCC) with connectivity to the OMC. A message is also sent from the switch to the RDT requesting the RDT to create an ALT object for the CRV in an RDT database.
In response to the subscriber premises equipment going off hook, a connection is set up from the customer premises equipment to the OMC. Through this connection, the OMC receives service option information relative to the customer premises equipment and requests an EMS associated with the switch (and the OMC) to setup service for the customer premises equipment. The EMS determines a DN to assign to the customer premises equipment and forwards the service option information and the DN to the switch. The service option information and the DN are store in a switch database. The CRV is then activated to full In-Service (IS) status.